Kvyat accepts responsibility for start crash

2016 Russian Grand Prix

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Daniil Kvyat accepted responsibility for colliding with Sebastian Vettel at the start of the Russian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver admitted he was caught out by how quickly the field slowed at turn two on the first lap and locked his brakes, causing him to hit the Ferrari.

“There was a bit going on,” he told Sky. “In the last moment I didn’t expect to slow down so much.”

“Then I started to press the brake pedal but there was not much in it because when you lock the rear wheels the car’s a bit out of control. The first contact came from that.”

“The second touch I was just behind him and I couldn’t see what was going on ahead and he just slowed down a lot and I just didn’t have time to react unfortunately.”

The stewards blamed Kvyat for the pile-up, giving him penalty points on his licence as well as a ten-second stop-go penalty during the race.

“Obviously all the mess came from me,” Kvyat admitted. “Of course it doesn’t feel great but sometimes these things happen on lap one.”

“It’s probably the messiest lap one that happened in my career but usually I learn from it. I think it should be all fine next time. We will learn from it.”

Kvyat said he intends to speak to Vettel, who he was also involved in an incident with in China two weeks ago.

“Yeah we will talk,” he said, “it’s all we can really do.”

“Of course it’s easy now to attack me and I guess everyone will,” he added. “But I’m OK with that.”

2016 Russian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    34 comments on “Kvyat accepts responsibility for start crash”

    1. As a Kvyat fan, I have to say, this time it’s really his fault. He misjudged the situation and asked too much out of his car. I feel terrible for him. I can imagine how harsh people will attack him…

      1. I would like to think that Kyvat will react to these events much like Grosjean did after his Spa controversy. It used to be that F1 drivers were much older when they eventually hit the big times, so I will cut him some slack, and hopefully he won’t hang himself with it.

    2. AntoineDeParis (@antoine-de-paris)
      1st May 2016, 15:37

      “In the last moment I didn’t expect to slow down so much.” – yeah, this Russian Road Rage Ballerina just believed he could fly over rivals.

      1. Kvyat – the new Maldonado. Do everyone a favour and drop down a series or two. Child.

        1. @johanness I doubt that. Crashtor almost never accepted any responsibility for any crash he has had :)

        2. Come on… He is a young guy, look at him, he knows he screwed up his and his teammate’s race. I don’t expect anything from him like that in the future. I mean, why would he smash his car on purpose to Vettel’s?

        3. Okay, the comparison isn’t really fair because Maldonado didn’t take responsibility for his actions like Kyvat has, and F1 is still a sport practiced by humans, after all! If DK hits someone in Spain, then the 3 strike rule should apply. After all, he wasn’t the only one to embarrass himself on the first lap of this race.

      2. Luis de la garza
        2nd May 2016, 0:11

        He was overly enthusiastic to show his comerades how fast he is. That’s all.

        1. Exactly true analysis!

    3. GPDA statement: “If we keep racing with Kvyat on the track, none of us will be safe”.

      Kvyat: “So don’t race!”

      1. WDC = Kvyat.

      2. Laughed at this !!!

    4. Kvyat should drop down a series. Moron

      1. @johanness

        For what??? For a lapse of judgement on the 1st lap? His move on China was aggressive but fair, and this week it was over aggressive and reckless.

        It happens to the best of drivers. Maybe Vettel should have dropped down a series in 2010 when he was labelled ‘Crash Kid’ . There was no way that Seb belongs in the sport right?!?!

        1. He wasn’t aggressive here. Aggressive means you tried something. He didn’t try anything, he simply misjudge the braking and the speed of the frond cars.
          Sometimes it happens. Guiterez did the same thing really but everyone is silent about it because he didn’t hit Vettel.

    5. I think Kvyat should have gotten a one race ban for that. Just like Grosjean did in 2012.

      1. I agree, the second touch on Vettel was a bit much.

    6. It’s a sad coincidence that this happened 2 weeks after China, where he was absolutely innocent. This will spoil people’s view on that brilliant move.

      This one was a clear mistake, tho. And twice.

      1. @fer-no65 well both moves rooted from the same thing. KVY taking big risks into the first corner and today he didn’t get lucky and ended up on the receiving end.
        And that’s why I’ve also been critical about his move in China. It was a racing incident, yes, but for my taste he drove too aggressively. Diving like this is imo fine when you go wheel to wheel with another car, but not if the field is punched up, because an outcome like today is just too likely to make it a ‘best practice’.

        1. Do not see your point at all since i fail to see what risk he took here. He didn’t took any risk, he didn’t try to go for a gap or anything, he simply misjudged the braking of the cars in-frond.

      2. I guess it might not have been completely accidental that it happened here and that it happened after a weekend where he did well @fer-no65. He must have been hoping for more success like the solid drive in China and off course he had the pressure of this being his home GP.

        But yeah, clear mistake, good to see he admits the mistake and says sorry for it.

        1. @bascb good points!

    7. It’s amusing reading the comments that are popping up already. Here he was undoubtedly at fault but even Brundle said it looks worse than it actually is. First bump he locked up his rears in conjunction to losing some downforce being the car behind, second bump he misjudged Vettels speed in what he expected to be an acceleration zone. Even Alonso is capable of an error as seen in Australia.

      And this in now way changes a perfectly valid move from China, a move that even Vettel after reviewing conceded was fair.

      Every driver on the grid has made a silly error at some point, especially in their early years.

      1. Yeah poor old Kvyat was just a victim here of a lack of downforce. /facepalm
        Even Horner doesn’t share your sentiment. But I guess we’ll see who’s right when DK’s contract isn’t re-signed.

        1. @johanness, no one is saying it wasn’t Kyvat’s fault. Even Kyvat is saying Kyvat was at fault.

          Who are you arguing with?

      2. RaceProUK (@)
        1st May 2016, 18:18

        It’s sadly typical of the modern F1 fan. They’re happy to heap praise on drivers right up until they make a single mistake, at which point they descend like a pack of vultures, not stopping until they’ve picked it clean. There’s just no middle ground anymore.

        1. Yeah, if you win 7 races you’re a hero, if you then have to crashes you are dead to them. Despite it still being the same driver behind the wheel.

          It’s nice to see Kyvat accept responsibility and say he will learn from the mistakes.

        2. The intensity of the scrutiny on an F1 driver is certainly at an all time high. My favorite drivers all made mistakes early in their careers that they eventually overcame these errors in heroic ways. This is the essence of character building, and this struggle for betterment is why I watch F1.
          How Kyvat handles this crisis will be his true test as a driver.

      3. Well put @philipgb.

        It looked worse because of Seb’s histrionics too, and the fact that it was the smoking team that got hit. A pair of mistakes.

      4. @philipgb

        Completely agree. His Sochi lap 1 moment was completely different from lap 1 at China. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for him though. In China he was wrongly accused for aggressive driving by Seb, but after this weekend, it seems that fans are clubbing both the instances together and saying Kvyat is too reckless, which is just ridiculous.

        Sure, he had a ‘Maldonado moment’ but he owned up to it, and said it was his mistake. How viewers of this site, such as @johanness suggest he’s the new Maldonado after one racing incident like this is just ridiculous. They need to refresh their memory to Seb’s accidents in 2010, Lewis’ in 2011, Grosjean’s in 2012 and even Alonso’s incidents such as Australia this year to realise that even the best drivers on the grid make mistakes.

        I think Kvyat will learn from this mistake and will be more likely to pull a Grosjean than a Maldonado regarding his 1st lap performance.

    8. Good to hear that but I think the writing has been on the wall for some time and today has only strengthened my belief that Kvyat is going to be dropped by Red Bull at the end of this year. He is just not the type of driver RBR are looking for and Daniel Ricciardo keeps outperforming him. More importantly, Helmut Marko recently pointed out that all the very good STR drivers got promoted to RBR after two years and that Verstappen was extremely good.

      Can Kvyat stay in F1? I do not know if he has any significant sponsorship that is independent from Red Bull. If Kremlin wants a Russian F1 race driver, then Sirotkin is another good option so I am afraid that Kvyat’s future does not look too good.

    9. I don’t know why but I keep remembering Vettels radio from China.

    10. Sergey Martyn
      3rd May 2016, 7:25

      Please recall how you named Grosjean for his first lap crashes.
      And does anyone have doubts about his talent now?
      I predict the same with Kvyat.

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